The Things You Already Know
by dustingforsugar
Summary: A selection of Gwen/Kevin one shots. Seasonal Halloween update.
1. They Don't Fade

This is going to be a series of one shots, drabbles and whatever in between, that I end up writing for a challenge I'm doing. I figured keeping them in one place would be less annoying for everyone here. Everything is going to be Kevin/Gwen and romance/love themed, since that's what the challenge is about! :)

The prompt for this one is 'Nightmare'.

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They Don't Fade.

Kevin had given up trying to get back to sleep. He peeled Gwen's arm from his chest and gently replaced it on the bed. Then he quietly slid out from underneath the covers and made his way out of the room. Before he left, he took a backwards glance at Gwen. She was so still that he could barely even see her body rise and fall with each breath she took.

Once in the kitchen, Kevin fixed himself a glass of water and didn't drink it. It was the same nightmare as usual. The same one that always left his mind reeling and eyes wide open. It was as if someone had butchered the movie reel of all his worst experiences; like they had cut them up and crudely pasted them together, with no concern for rhyme or reason. He had hoped that the images would have faded as he aged, but they didn't. They still woke him many a night, leaving him testy and tired the next day. Not that he would ever complain, certainly not to her anyway.

He looked out of the window; it was beginning to get light already. Kevin scowled and wondered if it was even worth going back to bed. He doubted he would be able to sleep anyway.

"So this is where you went."

Kevin turned and saw the outline of Gwen's small frame in the doorway. As she stepped a little closer he could see her eyes were tired and the strap of her nightdress had slipped down her arm. As usual her hair was more mussed on one side than it was on the other. It was always her left side.

He could not bear to look at her any longer, and so he turned back towards the window. The last thing he wanted was to introduce images of her to his already swimming head. He liked keeping her separate from his past.

Before he knew it, Gwen was behind him, laying a soft kiss on his bare back. Then she curled into his side, nuzzling into his upper arm and whispering that she loved him. He knew she was suspicious of his sleepless nights, but she never directly said anything, and for that he was thankful. He did not want to explain the blood and torn sinew of his dreams.

If his nightmares represented all that had gone wrong in his life, then she embodied all that was right. Gwen was beauty and love. The crunching of bone and the breaking of limbs paled against her milky skin and full lips. The nightmares were painful old memories, but she helped carve out new sweet ones.

"Let's go sleep." She said, withdrawing from his side slightly.

Kevin looked down at her sleepy face and decided to comply for her sake. She looked like she would appreciate a few more hours of sleep, and it would not kill him to lie in bed and feign slumber. So he kissed her forehead, replaced the thin white strap of her nightdress on her shoulder and followed her to bed.

--

As the couple lay with their bodies entangled, they both knew that the monsters were real, and that they were coming. Nightmares _could_ come true. However, they understood that there was nothing they could do but hold on to one another until the darkness pried them apart.


	2. Hopes, Dreams and Wishes

_A very short drabble. The prompt was 'dream'. I'm trying to get over some writer's block, so it's not the greatest :-/_

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Gwen Tennyson had plenty of dreams. She had always been driven and highly organised, and so she aimed high. There were thousands of little hopes, dreams and wishes tumbling around her young head.

Her parents didn't push her; they did not need to, for she was already so ardently independent. Gwen's report card was never a surprise, so they had no cause to worry. They knew their daughter was headed for big things. They gave her a little leeway on the late nights and the dinners she skipped, because it was practically community service.

Gwen dreamt of academic success; she was already a shoo-in for Valedictorian. She was popular in all of the clubs and committees she had spearheaded, and no one in the state could best her at Karate. She had always said she wanted to go to a 'good' college, but really she dreamt of Ivy League status. Gwen did everything she could to make her scholastic dreams come true, often working hard for extra credit. After all, she was the one responsible for her own academic destiny.

Aside from the dreams she happily disclosed to everyone, she had a few private ones too. Little ideas about love and her future. Those dreams made her a walking cliché, but she still clutched guiltily at them, for they were the most important ones of all.

In the end, she gave up _most_ of her dreams for a boy who drove way too fast; all because he finally told her that he loved her.


	3. One More Day

_Another very short drabble. As I said, I'm having writer's block with a longer piece I'm writing (also Ben10, Gwen/Kevin actually), so I'm trying to drabble my brain into action. The prompt here was 'too much'._

* * *

Sometimes it was too much to watch her get hurt. He had seen her kicked, squeezed, punched and battered. His stomach always lurched when he saw her taking a hit. It was the thing that really pushed him over the edge. She could easily withstand most of the blows, but that was little consolation to him. He could put up with anything else, but not that.

So many times he had been hunched over her, trying to rouse her from a stunned state, each time longing for her to open her eyes. Every time he had held her limp hand, he was struck by how small and delicate it was, her slim fingers dwarfed by his own. In fact, he found everything about her so fragile. From her trim waist, that he swore he could encircle in his two hands; to her arms that he easily had the strength to break. Sometimes he struggled to understand how she managed to come out of their fights in one piece.

When she actually got injured it incensed him like nothing else could. Even when it was just a skinned knee and some hurt pride, he wanted vengeance. The idea of someone causing her irreparable damage, before he had even had the chance to call her his own, made his blood run cold. He did not expect anyone else to understand. He was attached to precious little, but he loved Gwen.

--

By the time he had made his way over to where she had landed, she was already brushing the debris from her clothes and beginning to stand up. Kevin offered her his hand, which she used to haul herself up the final few feet. Looking at her hand, Kevin frowned. In places the skin on her knuckles had been scraped away, revealing the raw flesh underneath.

Gwen looked at her own hand, wondering what had caught his attention. She saw the unsightly abrasion and laughed nervously,

"I think I need a band-aid... "

He squeezed her hand gently, wanting to tell her everything.

Before he could even begin, a huge crash echoed behind them. They both whipped around, ready to fight, and put off the conversation for one more day.


	4. It's Forever, Right?

_Note: Twenty-something, domestic Gwen/Kevin, apparently. I was just going to write a drabble, but somehow this fell out instead. Hope you like! :)_

_I got to choose my own prompt for this one. I chose 'tattoo'._

_

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_

The door was unlocked, much to Kevin's concern. He had warned Gwen about keeping the door locked numerous times, but she never listened to him. He stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind him almost soundlessly. The next thing that he noticed was that Gwen had almost every light in the house on. He would have complained and reminded her about the electric bill that would inevitably land on the doormat at the end of the month, if it had been any other evening. However, it was an important night, as it marked Kevin's return from his three-week-long mission. Although, he was completely unexpected, because he was a whole two days early.

Kevin ditched his large bag at the bottom of the stairs and followed the sound of music to the back of the house. As he crept down the hallway, he passed Gwen's simple and tasteful décor and all the pictures she had hung on the walls. There were plenty of shots of her immediate - and extended – family. Grandpa Max with the prize fish he had caught three years ago, old family portraits of Gwen with her parents and brother, and plenty of Ben with his family. Not to mention all the individual pictures Gwen had hung of her 'niece and nephew', which was what she called them, even though they were technically some kind of cousin, either secondary or removed. Kevin just preferred to call them 'Ben's brats', though never in Gwen's earshot. Ben's kids annoyed him pretty much constantly, always climbing all over him and desperately trying to make him play or absorb stuff that made him look funny. Although Kevin did like the way they double teamed and ran rings around Ben, they had really grown on him after they had figured out how to do that.

Of course, the other problem with Ben's kids was that they always made people ask when he and Gwen would be having children of their own. The question always made Gwen stutter, and that in turn made him sweat. He hated when people asked those things, because it really was none of their business. After all, Gwen was busy with her second degree, and she had taken up the role of ambassador for Earth on several interstellar councils, and then there were the missions that she still helped out with. Kevin was stretched in just as many ways as Gwen was, so there was hardly time for babies at the moment. He knew it was something she wanted to happen one day though, because they had that 'big talk' years ago. Although, the way she had pinked at the question the last few times was kind of suspicious…

In the hallway there was only one photograph of the couple themselves, because Kevin had put his foot down over that. He really did not want to be one of _those_ couples. The ones that had grinning pictures of themselves in embarrassing embraces plastered all over their walls, the kind that always made visitors feel uncomfortable. The only reason he had allowed that one picture to grace the wall was because she was the main focus and his face was turned partially away from the camera. Her mother had taken it whilst they were at her parents' beach house. They were sat eating brunch out on the sand; the bagels had lain just out of shot and Gwen was nestled between his legs and leaning back on his chest. The way she had smiled so sweetly for the camera made her seem a little more carefree than usual, and that was what really made the photo so good, in his opinion.

When Kevin reached the kitchen, the door was already open, so he leant against the doorframe and watched Gwen rinse the bubbles from the day's dishes. She spoke occasional words of the song on the radio, for she was never really one to sing. As Gwen held another plate under the stream of water, Kevin looked her up and down. Her hair was bundled into a messy knot and she wore a very simple tee. Although, as Kevin looked lower, he was slightly puzzled as to why she was wearing both very brief sweat-shorts and fuzzy socks; he wondered why the uncovered legs in-between were not cold. Nevertheless, she was a welcome sight and he could not think of a way that she could have looked more attractive. In the end, Kevin could resist no longer, and so he called out to her.

At the sound of his voice Gwen whipped around and clutched her chest in surprise; her soapy hands left spots of water on her shirt. She had been completely unaware of his presence over the sound of the radio and the rushing water, and she was a little embarrassed that he had caught her looking less than her best. Although, all her little insecurities were cast to one side when she saw the smile on Kevin's face. Gwen hastily grabbed a dishtowel, dried her hands and then tossed it on the counter just before she rushed towards Kevin with her arms outstretched.

They embraced tightly, glad to be reunited. Gwen nuzzled into his chest and forgot that her hair was messy and that she was not wearing a drop of makeup. She dropped back a little from the hug, but still stood close enough that their bodies touched.

"You're early." She said, as she traced loopy patterns on his chest with her forefinger.

"Yep, and y'know what that means…" Kevin began, before he leant down slightly and whispered in her ear, "Two days off."

Gwen smiled and started to plant kisses along his jaw line. As much as it pained Kevin to peel her away from him, he knew he had to, because he had something important to show her.

"Hold up, I got a surprise for you."

Kevin peeled his shirt off and draped it over Gwen's shoulder. He turned so that his left side faced her, and then needlessly pointed at his upper arm.

"What d'ya think?" Kevin asked.

Gwen had already put a hand to her mouth in shock. Square in the middle of Kevin's upper arm was her name, written in a curly script and black ink.

"Ain't it romantic?" He teased, flexing his bicep slightly.

"_This_ might be the stupidest thing you have _ever_ done." Gwen snapped, as she grabbed his shirt from her shoulder and thrust it into his unsuspecting hands.

Kevin's smile faded from his face when Gwen turned and walked away from him, all the while she muttering under her breath. She moved to the refrigerator and jostled the items inside around noisily. The sudden need to busy her hands a direct result of her annoyance. She pulled out a bowl of grapes, set it down on the countertop, yanked a few from their stalks and let them rest in her cupped hand. She then popped a couple of grapes in her mouth and chewed.

"How? Why?" She spluttered through her mouthful of fruit, unable to contain her questions any longer.

"A couple of the guys were getting them, and I just thought…" Kevin said, though he realised there was no point continuing, as Gwen was pretty set with her opinion.

Kevin sighed internally. He had already gotten quite attached to the tattoo and had even made some theoretical plans for another, but he guessed it would be better if he kept that fact to himself for now. Her reaction had left him somewhat disappointed. He had expected her to be shocked, maybe even scold him a bit, but this _really_ had her steamed.

When some of the guys on base had tossed the idea around, Kevin had almost immediately counted himself in. He knew he was never really any good at telling Gwen how he felt, so he had thought that such a gesture would have said it all for him. The rest of the group had spent all day discussing the merits of dragons and lions over skulls and eagles, but Kevin had known what he wanted to get straight away. Some of the others had tried to talk him out of it, but he had remained constant and simply clenched his jaw as the needle buzzed into his skin.

Meanwhile, Gwen silently fumed, tossed the remaining grapes back into their bowl and wondered if Kevin would jump off a cliff if 'the guys' were doing it.

"Why did it have to be my name, couldn't you have gotten a heart, or an anchor, or… or something?"

"Why would I get an anchor?" Kevin replied, raising his eyebrow in confusion.

Gwen threw her arms upwards, frustrated and fed up. Kevin had clearly missed her point entirely,

"What if we break up?"

"I guess I'll have to find another chick called Gwen." He smirked.

Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose, she was not sure if she could take another joke. Suddenly another thought came to the forefront of her mind,

"What are my parents going to say when we go to the beach house this summer?!"

"Jeez, Gwen. Lighten up, it's only four lil' letters. Guys get 'em so they can be identified, you know, in case..."

"But why would they need to…" Gwen began, before realising what he meant, "Oh."

Gwen knew perfectly well what he was talking about. Each of them had been on missions that had arrived home with less people than they set out with, and they had both escaped tragic ends by a hair's-breadth so many times. They had both seen friends and enemies in pieces and strewn across scapes. Sometimes it took days to figure out how many had been captured and how many had been killed. Fortunately, they never had to take part in the macabre game of identifying the dead personally, but Gwen had spent long days comforting groups of women who waited to find out how many of them were widows.

In the grand scheme of things, one tattoo suddenly seemed so insignificant, and yet at the same time, so poignant. Gwen was not even sure how she got there, but she found herself cuddled into his bare chest, as his surprised arms gradually folded around her. She took comfort in the familiar, gentle slope of his muscles, and they stayed that way, silently, for quite some time.

He broke the silence,

"So, you don't like it, huh?"

"I just…" She sighed, "I mean, it's forever, right?"

Kevin nodded and stroked the top of her head,

"That's kinda the point."

Gwen smiled thoughtfully as she ran her fingertips over the tattoo. Some of the ink was still raised, not quite healed.

"I guess it's not so bad." She lied.

Really, she loved it already.

FIN

* * *

_I think Gwen's family seem like the types who have a beach house, right? Would tattooing Kevin even work? Who knows..?_


	5. Black Cats and Old Movies

_Yay Halloween! It's one of my favourite holidays! But I'm only managing to post this on time as I had to come home from a party early because my partner had way too much… pumpkin juice. Grr. Anyway, I think this might be one of the fluffiest (and worst!) things I have ever written, I'm not good at cute. This is set somewhere post-season 2 and pre-season 3 of AF. The prompt was 'indifference'._

_Once again, thanks for all your comments :) Although my promotion at work might mean that I won't get much writing done for a while. Sad times._

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Black Cats and Old Movies

"C'mon Gwen, it's Halloween!" Ben said, drawing out the last word for effect.

Gwen turned to look at her cousin. He was wrapped up in a blanket and clutched a bag of chips in one hand, but yet leant across the arm of the chair to complain at her.

"I didn't agree to spend tonight with you, just so we could watch movies that we've seen a hundred times already." Gwen replied, as she used the remote to change the station.

"You can be such a-"

"Hey, Tennyson, I thought you were meant to be sick." Kevin growled.

Ben and Kevin made brief eye contact across the room. Although Kevin's look just begged Ben to challenge him, the younger boy decided he was far too tired to bother with another petty back-and-forth with Kevin. So he curled back up under his blanket, coughed for effect and mumbled that was no way to treat someone who had saved the universe, when they were sick.

Likewise Kevin had decided that he would prefer to keep the peace too, though his reasons were perhaps a little less overt. He liked sharing the couch with Gwen far too much to risk upsetting the arrangement. Every now and then she would reach over and take a few kernels of popcorn from the large bowl that rested on his knee, and then pop them into her mouth. He wondered how she could look so good just eating popcorn, when he always ended up covered in crumbs and sugar.

Eventually Gwen settled on a station, and almost immediately Ben voiced his displeasure,

"Oh sure, we can't watch a movie _I've_ seen before, but we can watch one of your dumb movies _again_."

Gwen sat up straighter to defend her choice, "It's a classic!"

"It's not even in colour!" Her cousin barked back.

"So? I'm the one with the remote…" Gwen said, with a smirk as she waved the offending object in the air.

A loud groan echoed the room as Ben picked himself up off the couch. He wrapped his blanket around his shoulders and readied himself to leave the room, obviously in a bad mood. At the last moment, he turned around and snatched up his bag of chips and spoke to Kevin,

"Hey, you wanna play some videogames."

Kevin was tempted to join Ben in another epic Sumo Slammers tournament, because Gwen's movies were usually black and white, girly, or - worst of all - _both_. However, when he turned to Gwen, she was giving him one of her looks; since they had started sorta-maybe-dating she had become something of a pro at those.

"Think I'm gonna watch the movie." Kevin said quietly, not meeting Ben's eye for a second.

Ben shook his head and wondered if the elder could be any more transparent, as he left for his bedroom.

After Ben had stomped his way up the stairs and shut his bedroom door with a little more force than necessary, the couple were left alone. Kevin peered over at Gwen whilst she was transfixed on the movie. On the whole, he thought that Halloween costumes were dumb, but he found the set of black cat ears that Gwen wore quite sweet. Even if she insisted that she was only wearing them and a black shirt and pants 'for the kids', as she was the one that was supposed to be giving out the candy. It was always at times like these that Kevin realised how terrible he was at making small talk, so he just leaned back into the couch and fixed his gaze on the screen.

In the old movie, a small bookish-looking woman screamed as she was grabbed by a hulking monster. In that instant, Kevin and Gwen shared a memory. They each recalled the occasion that Kevin had held a ten-year-old Gwen in his huge fist and threatened to squash her. Out of the corner of her eye Gwen looked at the boy sitting next to her, he seemed so uncomfortable, and maybe even just a little ashamed.

Kevin laid the bowl of popcorn at his side and squirmed in discomfort. He hated to be reminded of the things he had done. It usually all seemed like so long ago, but every now and them something would remind him that it had only been five years; it had only been five years since he had threatened to squash the girl who now sat only inches from him. The worst part of it all was that he would have done it; he would have ended her life. It had not been because he hated her or he thought she deserved it, his reasons only concerned Ben. Really, he had been completely indifferent to her; she had been a means to an end, that was all. Perhaps it was why the memory stung more now, because he could not imagine how anyone could ever meet her and not be won over. He hoped that she knew that every time he protected her from harm, he was paying his debt. Well, that, and so much more.

Gwen adjusted her cat ears and snuck another glance sideward. Twice, Kevin had tried to express his regret for the things he had done to her in the past, and she hoped he would not try for a third time. Gwen had always accepted his apologies more for his sake than her own, because she already believed in him and every time he did something selfless it just bolstered her faith. In Gwen's eyes he had divorced himself from his past long ago.

"You weren't even _that_ scary anyway." Gwen teased, in an attempt to reassure him.

She playfully nudged into him with her shoulder and Kevin just let himself smile, for he found it impossible not to. The pair lapsed into a fairly comfortable silence and watched as the girl on screen was devoured by the monster; the terrible special effects made the scene almost comical. Then the dashing hero of the movie arrived on the scene, just as his beautiful love interest was swept up into the beast's paw.

"I wouldn't, y'know…"

Gwen turned to the boy sitting beside her, with one eyebrow raised to question him. Kevin shrugged uncomfortably as he looked down at the almost-empty bowl of popcorn that sat on the couch beside him. He had no idea what had compelled him to speak; in fact, rather quickly, he had wished he had not said anything at all.

"Oh, you mean you wouldn't-"

She was suddenly distracted when Kevin turned and looked at her. His eyes were much more expressive than his words would ever be, and they both knew that. With just that one look between them, the moment had become a hundred times more complex, and Gwen struggled to finish the final few words of her sentence because she found herself just a little breathless.

"…smoosh…"

It was a funny word, a silly word, but the way her lips pouted as she formed it could not have been more alluring to Kevin. He was overcome by the feeling that this was the time to act, and before he even realised what he was doing, he was leaning towards her.

"…me…?"

Suddenly Gwen was so aware of the blood rushing through her body. She willed him to do it, to finally understand what she had been wanting all this time. Quickly, he was close enough for her to rest one hand on his chest, and it reassured her when she found that his heart was thumping just as vehemently as her own.

Some kids rang the doorbell and shouted 'Trick or Treat'. Kevin and Gwen may well have stopped before when a huge alien crashed through the wall, but they were damned if they were going to stop for a few kids in costumes demanding candy. They ignored the melodic chimes at the door and finally let themselves connect.

They were a little off target, she kissed his upper lip and he kissed her lower one, though they easily reconciled and met in the middle. Their noses bumped slightly, but that was just fine for a first try. The kiss itself was slow, yet deliberate, as they were both a little wary of scaring the other off. It was a long-awaited expression of everything that had been simmering gently in the background.

Kevin could feel the energy that positively thrummed through Gwen, because he was always in tune with things like that. There would have once been a time when he wanted to take her energy for himself, but now it was more than enough to be near her, to just exist alongside side her.

Gwen's hand drifted along the hard line of his jaw and grazed against the slightly coarse stubble. Kevin followed Gwen's lead and tried to find somewhere to put his hand that was not too presumptuous, which he found remarkably difficult because his hands were big and she was so slight. In the end, he settled for a nice, neutral spot somewhere in the middle of her back. When he pulled her a fraction closer, Gwen just let her back curve to his will and curled her fingers to grasp at the neck of his shirt.

They carried on kissing, even through the soft spatter of eggs hitting the door. It was not like they could hear it anyway, as they were so very focused on the act that had been far too long in its coming.

Ben's voice drifted down from upstairs, "You guys! Why are kids egging my house?!"

Gwen felt Kevin smile into the kiss, no doubt he was grinning at Ben's distress. The predicament made her unable to contain her own laughter and so she broke off the kiss, dropped her hands to her lap and allowed a small, nervous giggle escape.

"Uh…I better go stop 'em before they move on to my car." Kevin explained, as he pulled back and let his hand rest at her waist.

Gwen nodded in agreement, her expression still a little stunned as he stood and then left the room.

A sense of pride swelled through Kevin as one of the candy bars that he had whipped through the air hit one kid in the thigh. Coupled with the things he had yelled – that Ben's neighbours really did not appreciate – it was enough to make the gang race away down the street. Kevin smirked again, tonight was really going his way. As he watched the kids disappear into the distance, he failed to hear Gwen approach. He jumped a tad when she spoke.

"I should go. I told my parents I wouldn't be too late." She said, not making eye contact and fiddling with her hairband again.

He offered to drive her, as usual, and she accepted. However, they still found themselves standing opposite one another and surrounded by awkward silence. Gwen looked down at the candy in the tub, that she planned to leave on the doorstep so that the kids would not have to bother Ben, whilst Kevin dug his hands deep into his pockets. Neither teen was quite sure how to proceed, given that things between them had gotten a lot more complicated. Gwen was incredibly surprised that Kevin found words first.

"So, uhh, sorry if it wasn't…y'know…good." Kevin mumbled, as he became very interested in the redhead's shoes.

"No, no, it was very…" Gwen paused as she failed to find an appropriate synonym, "…good, and next time-"

Gwen immediately started to blush furiously and clammed up. She reasoned that the conversation could only get worse from thereon in, so she placed the tub down on the doorstep and began the short walk to Kevin's car.

Meanwhile, Kevin's imagination bubbled away as he followed her, wondering about the when and where of the 'next time'.

FIN

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_Hurrah for awkward first-time kisses! I'm sorry it wasn't very Halloweeny. I just didn't have the heart to put anything too cliché in there, because you know that shippy fluff fics about kissing are cliché enough all on their own (-; Sorry if I got any American Halloween traditions wrong, blame Hollywood!_


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